1. Wikis are enabled by wiki software, otherwise known as wiki engines. A wiki engine, being a form of a content man
agement system, differs from other web-based systems such as blog software, in that the content is created without a
ny defined owner or leader, and wikis have little inherent structure, allowing structure to emerge according to the ne
eds of the users.[1] Wiki engines usually allow content to be written using a simplified markup language and someti
mes edited with the help of a rich-text editor.[2] There are dozens of different wiki engines in use, both standalone a
nd part of other software, such as bug tracking systems. Some wiki engines are open-source, whereas others are prop
rietary. Some permit control over different functions (levels of access); for example, editing rights may permit chang
ing, adding, or removing material. Others may permit access without enforcing access control. Other rules may be i
mposed to organize content.
The online encyclopedia project, Wikipedia, is the most popular wiki-based website, and is one of the most widely v
iewed sites in the world, having been ranked in the top twenty since 2007.[3] Wikipedia is not a single wiki but rathe
r a collection of hundreds of wikis, with each one pertaining to a specific language. In addition to Wikipedia, there ar
e hundreds of thousands of other wikis in use, both public and private, including wikis functioning as knowledge ma
nagement resources, note-taking tools, community websites, and intranets. The English-language Wikipedia has the l
argest collection of articles: as of February 2020, it has over 6 million articles. Ward Cunningham, the developer of t
he first wiki software, WikiWikiWeb, originally described wiki as "the simplest online database that could possibly
work."[4] "Wiki" (pronounced [wiki][note 1]) is a Hawaiian word meaning "quick.